“I need to grow up,” said Michael Vick during a press conference on Monday, not more than an hour after pleading guilty to dog fighting conspiracy charges. “I made a mistake of using bad judgment and making bad decisions. Those things just can’t happen. Dog fighting is a terrible thing, and I do regret it.” No such words were ever rang more hollow.A mistake is walking into the girl’s bathroom instead of the boys. A mistake is calling smart and final, fart and smile. A mistake would have been putting his tongue against a pole in thirty two degrees below zero weather. Funding a dog fighting ring and killing at least eight of them over a five to six year span is not a mistake. It’s a felony. A mistake is defined as an unwise or unfortunate act or decision caused by bad judgment or a lack of information which you strive to not repeat. Vick is right in that he made an unwise and unfortunate decision caused by his bad judgment, but he continued to do it over a six year period.This either means that he was a victim to his own stupidity or that it was no mistake. If it is not a mistake then that means he intentionally made a conscious decision to repeatedly fund dogs to be killed. That is sick. Vick said he would not blame others for what he did and that he would take full responsibility for his actions. This sounds all well and good until later in his speech when he contradicts himself by saying that it happened because he was around bad people and bad influences.If someone takes responsibility for something then it is assumed it encompasses both the good and the bad. To say that it was his fault, but that he wouldn’t have done it if weren’t for the people surrounding him, is a cop out. Vick is only owning halfway up, if that, for what he did. He is still keeping a scapegoat around if more blame falls his way. This is not taking responsibility. Furthermore, since Vick did not admit to gambling in his plea agreement, (if he had plead guilty to gambling that would violate his NFL player’s policy agreement and would be grounds for immediate expulsion from the league) it could only mean that he killed dogs for nothing more than mere pleasure.So here is another distinguishing characteristic of Michael Vick, he is either a disturbingly sick freak who gets off on killing dogs or he is a liar. So if I am to believe he is lying, than how can I believe anything else he says as truth, including if he is actually sorry for being a part of a dog fighting ring?Sadly to me only the last part of his speech seemed to be the most honest and sincere, “I offer my deepest apologies to everyone… and I will redeem myself.” For his sake and for all his young admirers wearing a number seven jersey out there, I hope he does. I hope he will finally grow up.